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Our Children and Youth Demand Our Care
There has been altogether too little attention paid to our children
and youth, and they have failed to develop as they should in the
Christian life, because the church members have not looked upon
them with tenderness and sympathy, desiring that they might be
advanced in the divine life.
In our large churches very much might be done for the youth.
Shall they have less special labor; shall fewer inducements be held
out to them to become full-grown Christians—men and women in
Christ Jesus—than were afforded them in the denominations which
they have left for the truth’s sake? Shall they be left to drift hither
and thither, to become discouraged, and to fall into the temptations
that are lurking everywhere to catch their unwary feet? If they err,
and fall from the steadfastness of their integrity, do the members of
the church who have neglected to care for the lambs, censure and
blame them, and magnify their failures? Are their shortcomings
talked of and exposed to others, and are they left in discouragement
and despair?
The work that lies next to our church members is to become
interested in our youth; for they need kindness, patience, tenderness,
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line upon line, precept upon precept. Oh, where are the fathers and
mothers in Israel? There ought to be a large number who would be
stewards of the grace of Christ, who would feel not merely a casual
but a special interest in the young. There ought to be those whose
hearts are touched by the pitiable situation in which our youth are
placed, and who realize that Satan is working by every conceivable
device to draw them into his net.
God requires that the church arouse from her lethargy and see
what is the manner of service demanded of her at this time of peril.
The lambs of the flock must be fed. The Lord of heaven is looking
on to see who is doing the work He would have done for the children
and youth. The eyes of our brethren and sisters should be anointed
with heavenly eyesalve, that they may discern the necessities of the
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